Mason&#39;s accessory for repairing furnace roofs



w. R. MOLAIN 3,072,080

MASON'S ACCESSORY FOR REPAIRING FURNACE ROOFS Jan. 8, 1963 Filed June28, 1960 l/VVE/VTOR WILLIAM R. McLAl/V Attorney United States Patent san. ass Masons Accesses-iv For. seamen noose The present inventionrelates generally to the masonry art and more particularly to apparatusin the form of a masons accessory for use in repairing furnace roofs.

Although not restricted thereto, the apparatus of the invention isespecially suitable for use in repairing basic refractory roofs of openhearth furnaces and in such use it will be described.

As is well known, open hearth furnace roofs constructed of basicrefractory have a tendency to buckle upwardly when the furnace isoperating. As a result, the area of the roof adjacent the skewbackchannels or side frame members of the roof is subjected to abnormalstress forces and the refractory brick in this area frequentlydeteriorate prematurely and require replacement.

Prior to my invention, the replacement or" the deteriorated refractorybrick in the area of the roof under stress necessitated shutting downthe furnace for prolonged periods during which brick masons manuallyremoved and replaced each of the brocks in the affected area one by one.This replacement operation took place while the interior of the furnacewas hot so that the brick masons were subjected to hot and hazardousworking conditions. Since the furnace interior was hot the replacementbricks had to be suspended by rods or wire. This made the replacementoperation still more time consuming.

It is, accordingly, an object of my invention to provide a masonsaccessory for use in replacing burned-out portions of an archedfurnace-roof sprung between spaced skewback channels whereby a pluralityof replacement bricks can be positioned and supported in a burnedoutarea of the furnace roof adjacent the skewback channels without the useof hanger rods or wires.

This and other objects will become more apparent after referring to thefollowing specifications and attached drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view showing the accessory of the inventioninstalled in an open hearth roof;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the accessory of the invention installedin an open hearth roof; and

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the accessory of the invention.

Referring more particularly to the drawings reference numeral 2designates the front wall of an open hearth furnace having an archedroof 6 one side of which is supported between a skewback channel 8 asshown in FIGURE 1. A skewback lltl made up of refractory skew bricks issupported on the bottom flange 12 of channel 3 and extendslongitudinally of the top of the wall 2. Pairs of opposed vertical postsor buckstays 14 connected by tie rods 16 are spaced along the walls 2..The roof 6 is made up of a plurality of basic refractory brick. Sometypes of basic open hearth roofs also include upstanding metal roofplates aligned in spaced transversely extending rows along the length ofthe roof.

Although I have shown only one skewback channel, it will be understoodby those skilled in the art that a simi lar skewback channel is disposedalong the top of the rear wall (not shown) of the furnace. The archedroof 6 is sprung between the skewback channels.

The construction thus far described is conventional and is not claimedas my invention which will now be described in detail.

The apparatus of my invention, which is designated generally byreference numeral 13, is preferably fabricated from a single piece ofsheet metal into a trough like form having a bottom 23% and spaced sidewall 22,. The top and both ends of the trough-like form are open, asbest shown in FIGURE 3.

At their forward ends 24 the lower edges of the side walls projectbeyond the bottom 2t) and extend at an oblique angle to the bottom so asto render the forward end of the accessory capable of fitting andresting on the lower flange 12 of the skewback channel ti, as best shownin FIGURE 1.

Projections 2e extend from the upper edges of the side walls 22 at theirrearward ends and are adapted to rest on the roof 6, as shown in FIGURE1.

in operation, when a section of the furnace roof in the area adjacentone of the skewbacks is to be repaired, the deteriorated brick isremoved from the section and the accessory of the invention is insertedinto the void created by removal of the brick with the obliquely cutforward ends of the side walls 22 resting on the lower flange of theskewback channel 3. The projections 26 rest on the portion of the roofadjacent the burnedout section as shown in FIGURE 1. Then the accessoryis filled with refractory skew and roof bricks S and R, respectively,disposed similarly to the bricks in the remainder of the roof. After theaccessory has been thus positioned and filled with brick, heat from theinterior of the furnace causes it to fuse with and become an integralpart of the roof.

When used to repair the type of basic open hearth roof having upstandingroof plates, the side walls 22 of the accessory replace the upstandingplates on either side of the burned-out area of the roof. When theaccessory of the invention is used to repair a roof having upstandingplates, it is so dimensioned that its inside width is approximatelyequal to the distance between pairs of adjacent roof plates. if the roofarea to be repaired extends beyond a section between a pair of roofplates, more than one accessory can be used.

While one embodiment of my invention has been shown and described, itwill be apparent that other adaptations and modifications may be madewithout departing from the scope of the following claim.

I claim:

A masons accessory for use in replacing burned-out portions of an archedfurnace-roof sprung between spaced skewback channels which comprises atrough of sheet metal having a bottom and spaced side walls but open atthe top and the ends, adapted to be fitted into an opening in said roofadjacent one of said channels, said side walls having their lower edgesat one end eX- tending beyond the end of said bottom and at an obloqueangle thereto whereby to engage a flange of said one of said channels,said side walls having projections from their upper edges at their otherends extending beyond said bottom Wall and spaced upwardly therefromadapted to rest on the roof adjacent said opening.

Hilliard Aug. 19, 1930 Weber July 10, 1956

